Bangladesh players vent anger as they recount spine-chilling sea voyage in WI: Reports

The Bangladesh cricket team is being linked with reports claiming that some of the players of the team, currently touring the West Indies, fell sick after a ferry ride from St Lucia to Dominica. The series started with a 2-0 Test series win for the hosts after they claimed victory in the second Test at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, which concluded on June 27. Both the teams then traveled to Dominica on a sea voyage, which left a few of the visiting players sick.

As reported by Bangladeshi daily newspaper, ‘Prothom Alo’, Bangladeshi players expressed concerns about the ferry ride and also about their well-being. “We are the ones who can fall sick and die here, nothing will happen to them,” a player was anonymously quoted as saying by the Bengali daily newspaper. 

At the same time, another sick player said, “I have toured many countries, this is the first time I am experiencing something like this. None of us are used to this. Forget about playing, what will happen if one of us gets seriously ill on the ferry. This is the worst tour of my life”.

The ferry ride from St Lucia to Dominica is approximately 181 km long

It is pertinent to mention that the distance to Dominica from St Lucia is approximately 181 km, which takes over four hours of a journey through waterways. Being strange to such journeys, some of the Bangladesh players found it tough to handle themselves and ended up being sick upon reaching the venue for the T20I series opener. The report also mentioned that pace bowler Shoriful Islam puked during the spine-chilling sea voyage.

‘Prothom Alo’ described the ferry ride by saying that the ferry was not that large and it began facing big waves, mid-way through the journey. The waves rose to even six-to-seven feet of height, which was enough for the ferry to swing widely. While the teams held their first practice session for the T20I series on June 29, both teams locked horns in the 1st T20I on Saturday, which ended with no result. 

The WI vs BAN, 1st T20I ended with no results

The home squad won the toss and elected to bowl first as the match was reduced to 14 overs per side due to rains. Bangladesh hit 105 runs at the loss of eight wickets in 13 overs before the play was stopped and got called off later. Shakib Al Hasan scored the maximum of 29 runs in 15 balls for Bangladesh, while Romario Shepherd returned with the best figures of 3/21 in 4 overs for the West Indies.

(Image: icc-cricket.com)